It was the worst kept secret all weekend, the news that Chad White would be leaving Sea Rocket Bistro's stoves to join Brian Malarkey and James Brennan's new cooking commonwealth.

Finally the on-the-record powers that be say White's leaving the North Park seafood spot to head up Gabardine, an upcoming seafood bar (local craft beers, shellfish emphasis) in Point Loma. He will remain a partner in Sea Rocket.

You know Malarkey and his biz partner J.B. together as the guys carving up San Diego, turning neighborhoods into party-dining scenes that either have one of their projects (Gaslamp's Searsucker, Del Mar's Burlap, La Mesa's Gingham, and, on the horizon Point Loma's Gabardine and La Jolla's Herringbone) or those that don't.

Gabardine will open in February in the old La Playa Bistro location, at 1005 Rosecrans.